1-800-SPRINT-1 sprint.com/4G
Sprint 3G/4G USB Modem U301
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Here are the 10 most popular stories from
May 4, 2010 to June 3, 2010.
New York Creates Online Cancer
Data Map Statewide cancer map shows
diagnosis rates and potentially hazardous sites.
www.govtech.com/764225
IBM and Indiana Suing Each Other
Lawsuits stems from the state’s canceled
social services eligibility system
outsourcing deal.
www.govtech.com/762457
Essential Elements for a
Government Social Media Policy
Center for Technology in Government
study demystifes the ingredients for
an efective social media policy.
www.govtech.com/764427
Slick Solution for Oil Spills
Texas uses new technology to protect
beaches, wildlife and marine resources.
www.govtech.com/95784
Real-Life Police Technology
Catches up With Science Fiction
Gadgets include patrol car-mounted
launchers that shoot GPS-equipped darts
onto feeing vehicles and ear-mounted
video cameras for cops.
www.govtech.com/755804
Site Reveals Salaries of New York
State Employees
Conservative think tank launches website
with comprehensive state fnancial data.
www.govtech.com/383701
National Intelligent Transportation
Vision Takes Shape
Research on smart driving systems
shows how IT can change the way
people commute.
www.govtech.com/764639
Portal for State IT Workers
Calinfo will let users share useful
products, receive useful information.
www.govtech.com/763975
“Where’s My Refund?” Online
Service Alabama taxpayers can check
the status of their state tax refunds.
www.govtech.com/90240
California CIO Teri Takai’s IT Wish List
California’s challenge will be to continue the
momentum created during Takai’s tenure.
www.govtech.com/762101
1
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govtech.com/extra
Updates from Government Technology’s daily online news service. e.
2
3
4
5
6
TARGETING DRUNKEN DRIVING
WITH SMARTPHONE APPS
A growing number of states are launching iPhone apps designed
to keep drunken drivers off the streets. R-U-Buzzed, released by
the Colorado Department of Transportation, estimates blood-
alcohol content. A mash-up program called Stumble Safely gives
Washington, D.C., pedestrians a safe route to walk home after a
night at the bar. Now the California Ofﬁce of Trafﬁc Safety is
promoting the Taxi Magic app, which lets users tap one button
to automatically call local cab companies and arrange pickups.
www.govtech.com/drunk
10
Web Comment
of the Month
Our records show you did not
vote for Dear Leader. T ey also
show you did not watch his speech
last night, as you used no power.
T erefore, a mandatory 72-hour
blackout is imposed on your
residence. Not today, but soon.”
Anonymous on April 20, 2010, in
response to our story California Utility
Deploys Smart Grid
www.govtech.com/smartgrid
Top-Tweeted Stories
Microsoft Introduces Social
Media Directory for State and
Local Government
WWW.GOVTECH.COM/
MICROSOFT
Survey: 45 Percent of
Local Governments
Using Cloud Computing
WWW.GOVTECH.COM/CLOUDSURVEY1

Survey Highlights
Federal Government’s
Confusion, Distrust in
Cloud Computing
WWW.GOVTECH.COM/CLOUDSURVEY2
49
tweets
34
tweets
318
tweets
Who Says?
www.govtech.com/whoamijuly
“How much Big Brother do we really need?”
15
Oregon became the ﬁrst state in the nation
to offer Google Apps for Education in
K-12 classrooms. School ofﬁcials believe
the move will save money, enhance
communication and collaboration, and
prepare students for the digital work force
that awaits them. The state’s 197 school
districts can choose to use the cloud-
based suite that comes with ﬁltered e-mail,
calendaring, document sharing and a host
of multimedia streaming options.
www.govtech.com/oregon
OREGON BRINGS
GOOGLE APPS TO
PUBLIC SCHOOLS
100MILLION
The number of calls
placed to New York
City’s 311 service since
its inception in 2003.
www.govtech.com/NYC311
The number of Beacon Communities selected
by the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services to receive a
portion of $220 million in grants
to support test cases for health IT.
www.govtech.com/health
7
8
9
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Our insight. Your empowerment.
No one understands the public sector like Tyler.
Our software solutions do more than meet your needs.
They anticipate them. Tyler solutions empower all aspects
of local government, including city and county ﬁnancials,
courts and justice, property appraisal and tax assessment,
public safety and schools. That’s why Tyler continues to be
the largest software provider dedicated solely to the public
sector. Little wonder that more and more state, county
and local governments look to Tyler for their needs.
To ﬁnd out how our insight can empower you, visit us
at tylertech.com or email us at info@tylertech.com.
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big picture
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A BETTER
VIEW
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11
Whether on the battleﬁeld or the city streets,
patrolling at night adds an element of danger
for both law enforcement agents and military
personnel. In such situations it can help to have
an extra set of eyes — and using a Driver’s Vision
Enhancer (DVE) does just that.
DVEs take advantage of infrared thermography
technology. All objects give off radiation in the
form of heat. Thermography creates a visual
display of one’s surroundings based on the heat
emitted and reﬂected by any object, animal or
person. DVEs provide vehicle operators with
situational awareness in various environmental
conditions like dust, dark, smoke or fog.
The DVE represents the latest in
night-vision technology. Night
vision was pioneered in
World War II but was
revolutionized during
the Vietnam War with
the development of
the Starlight scope,
which ampliﬁed
ambient moon and
starlight by 1,000 times.
he
gy.
n
s.
latest in
Night
DVEs transform what to the human eye are
imperceptible environments into clear black-and-
white images, giving soldiers and law enforcement
tactical superiority over enemies and criminals.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DRS TECHNOLOGIES AND WIKIMEDIA
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What’s the state budget situation
in Missouri? We’re hoping it levels off soon, but
we’re expecting the next budget year to be just as
painful as this year’s. For our IT budget, that’s meant
a decline this year of about 10 percent. So those [will]
be some challenging times as we ﬁgure out how to
accomplish all the priorities that everyone has for us,
but do that with less personnel and fewer dollars.
What’s the impact of that on state IT
operations? Missouri has worked on consolidation
efforts for a number of years. We’re going to ramp up
some of those. We’re shrinking individual data centers
back into the state data center, and there are several
more of those that we can do this year. That’s also
giving us an opportunity to consolidate some stafﬁng.
For agencies that are geared up to do 24/7 operations,
as we do this consolidation, many of those positions
will become excess. So we’re trying to deal with that
through attrition. We’ll get savings from those efforts and
hopefully that will be enough to get us over the hump.
Are you considering innovative
contracting options? We have vendors that are
very interested in beneﬁts-based contracts. We’re
looking at that possibly on some tax systems. We’re
also looking at uniﬁed communications solutions
for the state. We’ve been a Centrex operation and
it doesn’t take much walking around our state
buildings to notice that many of those individual
phone lines aren’t very heavily used. We’ve been
looking hard at what we could do to internalize those
phone operations, perhaps by going to a voice over IP
system. We believe there’s a signiﬁcant cost savings
to the state if we go down that road.
How will federal health-care reform impact
Missouri from an IT perspective? It’s still
very early in the process. We’re reaching out to all the
different constituent groups to get an understanding of
the impact and how we can best help citizens. We need
to see where states can collaborate. The way Missouri
registers health-care providers shouldn’t be that much
different from how Kentucky does it. So can we create
these common building blocks among the states and
save dollars that way?
Doug Young
CIO, Missouri
DOUG YOUNG
became CIO of
Missouri in
November 2009.
He has more than
20 years of public-
sector IT experience,
including serving as
IT services chief for
the Missouri
Department of
Conservation.
Young oversees
all of Missouri’s
technology needs
and manages
a consolidated
statewide IT budget.
1
2
3
4
questions
12
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www.govtech.com
BY STEVE TOWNS | EDI TOR
4
P
H
O
T
O

Insight is proud to offer our entire line of hardware, software and services to schools and
governments nationwide under our U.S. Communities contract for Technology Products,
Services and Solutions. Learn more at www.ips.insight.com/uscommunities
GT07_Insight.indd 2 6/4/10 3:44 PM
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throughout the district. And despite all the
I
T’S NO SECRET THAT that citizens
want to interact with government
electronically. But expectations are
continually growing about the kinds of
transactions citizens can conduct online
and the type of devices they can conduct
them on.
Citizens want to be able to interact
with government online as thoroughly as
they could in an of ce, said Maury Black-
man, president and CEO of Accela.
With the growing number of smartphones,
demand is increasing for full-scale
interactions via these devices.
“Self-service mechanisms need to be
in place so citizens can start a transaction,
complete it, print, walk away and get a
PDF that they can move forward with,”
Blackman said.
But self-service need not only apply
to citizens looking to get a permit
or renew their vehicle registration.
Self-service for government employ-
ees in the feld is equally important,
especially when trying to maximize
resources and return on investment.
“We see technology and mobile devices
being able to bring government directly
into a community, so that case workers,
license issuance, all can be done at job
locations,” Blackman said. “If you want
to renew your business license, someone
might show up at your job site and say,
‘Hey, we know your license is about to
expire in a month. Can I take care of that
for you right now?’ So you didn’t even
have to think about it, it’s just done.”
Blackman added that Apple’s
new iPad could accelerate develop-
ment of new mobile services, because
the device’s form factor lends itself to
taking more technology into the feld.
“I was fantasizing of a government
drive-through where you have government
workers in the parking lot with iPads as
people are driving through and saying,
‘Hey I need a license, I need a permit, I
need to schedule an inspection, I need to
ask a question.’ And someone is stand-
ing there with an iPad or similar device.
I think the iPad is just the leading edge.
Other technology providers are surely
going to have to respond to this. We are
on a whole new cusp of innovation.”
19 www.govtech.com
IMPROVING MOBILE
TECHNOLOGY MAY
BRING THE GOVERNMENT
OFFICE TO YOU.
Maury
Blackman,
CEO, Accela
ON DEMAND
GOVERNING
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I
N DISASTER SITUATIONS, communica-
tion is vital. But in cases where disasters
damage or destroy communications
equipment, exchanging information can
become nearly impossible. Tat is, unless,
the hardware that facilitates communica-
tion is impervious to earthly dangers —
such as a satellite perched 22,000 miles
above the ground, safely away from hurri-
canes, earthquakes, tsunamis and terrorists.
Satellite phones have been around for
years, but they’ve never worked as well or
ofered as many features as the devices rou-
tinely shown in movies and on TV. Reston,
Va.-based TerreStar Networks intends to
change that. Last summer, the company
launched what it claims is the world’s largest
and most powerful communications satellite,
TerreStar-1, which will power the world’s
frst satellite smartphone, the Genus.
“Our satellite was launched July 1 last
year,” said Dennis Matheson, CTO of
TerreStar-1, the world’s largest and most powerful satellite, according to TerreStar,
was launched on July 1, 2009. The satellite is in a geosynchronous orbit, meaning it
matches the speed of the Earth’s rotation so it can remain in a ﬁxed position. TerreStar-1
also uses spot-beam technology. Spot beam is a satellite signal that serves a desig-
nated area. Satellite television providers like DirecTV and Dish Network use spot-beam
technology to ensure that only customers in North America receive a signal. TerreStar
Networks said its satellite and the corresponding ground-based support equipment can
generate 500 spot beams at any given time. More beams mean better signals and the
ability to be more efﬁcient in terms of spectrum availability. TerreStar also uses ground-
based beam forming, which allows the satellite to allocate signal power and spectrum
to customers involved in speciﬁc incidents, such as an area suffering a disaster. Partner-
ships with Nokia, Siemens, Hughes Electronics Corp., Cisco and AT&T make TerreStar’s
Genus satellite smartphone usable over both terrestrial and satellite networks.
20
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NEW SATELLITE TECHNOLOGY BRINGS
SMARTPHONE FEATURES TO DISASTER-
READY COMMUNICATIONS.
TerreStar Networks. “Since then we’ve been
doing diferent integration activities of the
new network, which is an all-IP wireless
network, and we’re ready to roll out our
frst service ofering.”
Te Genus is actually a terrestrial and
satellite smartphone rolled into a single
device. It ofers a QWERTY keyboard,
touchscreen and the Windows Mobile 6.5
operating system. Users can make voice
calls, send text messages and check e-mail.
Under normal circumstances the device
uses AT&T’s cellular network. But when
terrestrial networks are down or unavail-
able, all its communication and data trans-
fer features are still available thanks to the
satellite. Tis sets the Genus apart from past
satellite phones which
required their own
device, phone number,
batteries and a clunky
housing.
“What we wanted to
do was to put a unit on
the hip of a person that
would be their day-in
and day-out device,
yet would have satellite
capabilities at the same
time when they needed
it,” Matheson said. “If
you see our unit, it’s a
little bit larger than a
BlackBerry.”
Currently it costs users
an extra $24.99 per month
to add satellite capability to
the Genus. But Matheson
said chipset agreements
with manufacturers, such
as Qualcomm and Infneon,
mean TerreStar Networks anticipates the
monthly price dropping to as little as $5.
Te company also is investigating the pos-
sibility of incorporating the technology into
emergency response vehicles.
Still, the technology isn’t perfect. Users
need an unobstructed view of the south-
ern sky to use the satellite functions. But,
Matheson added, “It’s not one of these
[situations] where you have to be right
there, standing still, basically aimed at a
specifc spot.”
Dennis
Matheson,
CTO, TerreStar
The Genus
is the ﬁrst smart-
phone that works
on both terrestrial
and satellite
networks.
SPACE-AGE
SMARTPHONES
HOW SATELLITE
PHONES WORK
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It’s time
to get wired
into the network!
How will you stay wired in to ever-changing technology needs with all the budget cuts?
We partner with national hardware and software providers to help you stay current with practical applications,
at nationally leveraged pricing. We’ve already taken care of the procurement end of things with competitively
bid, awarded contracts that allow you to can get what you need from the vendors you want.
Wire into The Cooperative Purchasing Network and see for yourself how governmental entities working together
gives you the biggest bang for your budget. Go ahead, ask our vendors for the TCPN contract pricing.
It’s FREE to use...no dues, no fees, nothing!
www.TCPN.org
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www.govtech.com PHOTO COURTESY OF THE WHITE HOUSE/PETE SOUZA
SUPPORT S
THREE WAYS HEALTH-CARE REFORM WILL IMPACT GOVERN
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23 www.govtech.com
T SYSTEMS
RNMENT INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY.
S
STATES ARE JUST BEGINNING TO confront
the technology implications of federal
health-care reform. At frst blush, the new
health-care law holds big risks and equally
big opportunities for state governments,
which will shoulder most of the burden
of implementing these sweeping changes.
On March 23, President Barack Obama
approved health-care legislation that’s
expected to extend health insurance to an
additional 32 million Americans. About half
of those newly insured citizens will get their
coverage through state Medicaid programs,
thanks to expanded eligibility for these low-
income insurance plans. Many of the rest will
receive government subsidies to help them
aford health coverage.
Technology upgrades could be pivotal to
cutting the cost of delivering these new ser-
vices — a notion that’s getting more
attention in state houses across the
nation, according to Ray Scheppach,
executive director of the National
Governors Association.
“Tere’s a lot of opportunity, but it’s
going to put a big burden on states,”
said Scheppach, speaking at the
National Association of State Chief
Information Of cers (NASCIO)
mid-year conference in April. “To
me, there is high risk around these
changes because the federal govern-
ment hasn’t been willing to put the
money in for the upgrade of systems. But there’s
a high potential beneft for states that do it well.”
From an IT perspective, health-care reform
hits states from several directions. Medicaid eli-
gibility systems will strain to handle millions of
new applicants — and these systems will need
to connect with other state and federal systems
to accommodate new eligibility requirements.
States must decide if their current Medicaid
systems can be upgraded or if total replace-
ment is necessary, Scheppach said. Either way,
they’ll need to add features like online benefts
sign-up for Medicaid applicants that let agen-
cies deliver benefts more ef ciently.
BY RUSSELL NICHOLS
STAFF WRITER
at
n
e
G
g
s
N
I
President Barack Obama
fist-bumps a medical
professional in the White
House prior to a health-
care event in March.
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1
going to have to be able to talk to each other
to support a population of recipients that
doesn’t exist today.”
States such as Florida, he said, will need
to fnd money to purchase new computers,
increase data storage capacity for eligibil-
ity systems and beef up document imaging
systems — not to mention the costs of hiring
new workers to handle the increased work-
load. In addition, under the new law, states
must upgrade eligibility systems to test recipi-
ents using the old and new criteria separately.
“We’re going to have to reprogram
the computer to recognize each of these
In addition, health insurance exchanges
— which will aggregate millions of health
insurance customers — also could give states
leverage to force health insurers and provid-
ers to adopt electronic health records (EHRs)
and other money-saving technologies.
Using technology to cut the cost of
delivering health benefts may prove fun-
damental to the long-term
viability of health-care reform.
Governors already worry that
growing Medicaid caseloads
and a spiraling federal budget
defcit could prompt the feds
to cut Medicaid reimburse-
ments to states, according to
Scheppach, forcing states to
pay a larger share of the cost for
providing health coverage to
low-income families.
“We really have to get the
costs down to something that’s
sustainable,” he said.
As state governments struggle to simul-
taneously expand health-care coverage and
cut the cost of providing it, here’s a closer
look at some of the biggest technology issues.
1. Upgrading Medicaid
Eligibility Systems
According to some states, the massive
expansion of insurance coverage — the fag-
ship of the health-care overhaul — comes at
a steep price.
Te new law expands Medicaid programs
to cover low-income Americans who earn up
to 133 percent of the poverty level (or $14,404
for an individual and $29,326 for a family of
four). Although the expansion isn’t required
for all states until 2014, a Kaiser Health News
article pointed out that the vast increase could
bring 15 million more people into the safety-
net program nationwide, according to the
Congressional Budget Of ce.
As the millions of potential recipients
pour into Medicaid programs, the infux
threatens to strain eligibility systems —
especially now, with many states already
sufering from broken budgets.
“While the health-care reform bill gives
the states extra money to help pay the costs
for Medicaid services, no extra dollars have
been identifed for administrative func-
tions,” said Nathan Lewis, chief of program
policy with the Florida Department of Chil-
dren and Families. “Multiple systems are
populations and know how to treat them
accordingly,” Lewis said. “Tat means our
Web-based application, eligibility determi-
nation and workload management systems
will have to be modifed as well as our inter-
faces with a variety of health-care agencies.”
Health-care reform will force states to
spend more on eligibility systems, but it
also could trigger positive changes in how
states operate Medicaid programs. For
instance, eligibility determination tradition-
ally is done in silos. Te new law may bring
systems together and force states to examine
the roles of various agencies, according to
Cindy Hielscher, an Accenture senior exec-
utive and leader of the frm’s North Ameri-
can public health practice.
Under the new law, states also may be
able to drive down Medicaid costs through
value-based purchasing, quality reporting
and a national pilot program to establish a
bundled payment for specifc services.
“Now there are incentives to change tech-
nology to focus on populations,” said Steven
E. Waldren, a physician and director of the
Center for Health Information Technology
with the American Academy of Family Phy-
sicians. “We can fgure out how to deliver
on quality, how to reach out to patients who
don’t come to see me.”
24
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Unlike most states, Massachusetts won’t have a hard time meeting the
four-year deadline for building an insurance exchange; the state is three years
ahead of the curve. In 2007, as part of the state’s health-care overhaul, Mas-
sachusetts ofﬁcials established the Health Connector, an independent public
authority, to regulate the state’s insurance exchange through a Web-based marketplace.
The project costs about $600,000 a year to run, said Bob Nevins, CIO of the Health
Connector. Under President Barack Obama’s plan, however, the Health Connector will
have to make minor changes to its system. For instance, the new law makes more people
eligible for subsidized insurance and adds provisions to provide tax credits for small busi-
nesses. But overall, Massachusetts stands as the go-to source for states that want to
know how to build an insurance exchange Web portal that works.
The Health Connector’s Web portal contains pathways for two insurance programs:
subsidized, which is managed by the state’s Medicaid agency, and unsubsidized, which
provides commercial health insurance plans. In the unsubsidized shopping area, custom-
ers provide a date of birth and ZIP code, and the system grabs coverage details and rates
from six health carriers. From there, customers can compare programs, enroll online and
make an e-payment to begin coverage in the program they choose.
The Health Connector chose to buy the portal, Nevins said, rather than build its own.
But, he added, IT staff still had to make contracts with health carriers, determine hosting
and Web strategies, and take into account what matters most to customers shopping for
health insurance: premiums, deductibles, doctors available in various plans, etc.
“That’s where we really had to apply a lot of creativity and do research, to ﬁgure out
how to present a shopping experience in an easy-to-use interface,” Nevins said. “If you
overload customers with too much information, they just get lost.”
P
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I
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The new law
expands Medicaid
programs to cover
low-income Ameri-
cans who earn up
to this percent of
the poverty level.
133
The Massachusetts Model
lic
Ray Scheppach,
executive director
of the National
Governors
Association
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3
2
signifcant efort. Exchanges must link with
Medicaid eligibility information, IRS data
for income verifcation, and the U.S. Trea-
sury for subsidy payments and tax credits.
3. Adopting Electronic
Health Records
Health-care reform also could drive
adoption of EHRs, which has lagged thus far
in the U.S. According to Forrester Research,
health-care enterprises in North America
spend just 22 percent of their IT budgets on
new IT initiatives, compared with 28 percent
for businesses in other sectors.
With a goal for Americans to have
EHRs by 2014, the U.S. government wants
to implement an interoperable nation-
wide network, where health records — test
results from labs and radiology, disease
and symptom records, CT scans, etc. —
can be accessed online from anywhere. Te
Obama administration set aside $19 billion
in the American Recovery and Reinvest-
ment Act to fund adoption of EHR systems
that meet specifc criteria.
Scheppach said states could demand that
health providers adopt EHRs as a condition
of joining insurance exchanges. But for hos-
pitals, health-care reform’s massive expan-
sion of coverage might be incentive enough
to move toward EHRs.
“With 30 million new records to enter,
even skeptical physicians may decide that
it makes sense to jump on the EHR band-
wagon now in order to better manage new
patients,” said Jon Oltsik, a principal analyst
at Enterprise Strategy Group, an IT analyst
and consulting frm.
2. Building Health Insurance
Exchange Networks
Health insurance exchanges also will
play a role in the eligibility process, accord-
ing to experts at ACS, which processes 550
million Medicaid claims annually. Will
Saunders, chief operating of cer of the
company’s government health-care group,
said that under the new law, states must
build health insurance exchange portals
that automatically determine Medicaid eli-
gibility and direct qualifying patients to the
Medicaid enrollment process.
By 2014, states must establish an online
marketplace to make it easier for residents
and small businesses to compare and buy
afordable health insurance.
Cash-strapped states may partner to
build regional networks, or they may use a
template that will be developed by the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Ser-
vices. In any case, the purpose of these Web
portals is to collect data from individuals in
an interactive system that ties together treat-
ments, outcomes and payments.
“How do you engage consumers in that
process and allow them to request appoint-
ments online, do secure messaging, self-
management, have glucometer and blood
pressure machines record and submit data?”
Waldren said. “Tat’s how the Web portals
start to be of higher importance and value.”
Scheppach said the National Governors
Association is still trying to gauge how
many states intend to build their own insur-
ance exchanges versus using the federal
template. But he said states could use the
exchanges to force signifcant changes in
how health care is delivered to patients.
Early on, as many as 50 million people will
purchase health coverage through insur-
ance exchanges, he told NASCIO members.
And states will have the power to certify
which insurers may participate.
“All of a sudden, states and governors
have a fair amount of leverage in the mar-
ketplace,” Scheppach said. “I would argue
that it can be used to bring the providers
and plans to the table to begin to focus on
delivery system changes like bundled pay-
ments, capitation in how we reimburse and
expanded use of managed care.”
In addition, states could use their
exchanges to implement quality and ef -
ciency measures that would reduce health
costs, he said. But those benefts will require
Te new law, Oltsik added, might also
motivate health-care frms to form partner-
ships to extend networks for “more data
sharing and IT services over a greater pool
of health-care providers.”
But skeptics say it’s too soon for gov-
ernments to use EHRs to hedge their bets.
A national health-care project in the U.K.
using experimental health IT as a pillar for
reform has been disastrous, according to
Scot M. Silverstein of Drexel University, a
physician and health IT expert.
To support his stance that EHRs have
been overhyped, Silverstein
cites studies concerning
health IT (HIT) cost over-
runs and failed systems. He
also points to Jefrey Shuren,
director of the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration’s Center
for Devices and Radiological
Health. At a health IT safety
meeting in February, Shuren
said, “In the past two years,
we have received 260 reports
of HIT-related malfunctions
with the potential for patient
harm — including 44 reported
injuries and six reported
deaths.” In terms of health IT-related prob-
lems, he added, these incidents may repre-
sent only the tip of the iceberg.
“It’s mystifying why they think this tech-
nology is ready to plug and play,” Silverstein
said. “It really isn’t ready for prime time.
While health-care reform is a great idea, if
you depend on health IT as one of its pillars,
you end up with project failure, lack of accep-
tance, information systems that are impos-
sible to use, and you end up killing people.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION on how states
are implementing electronic health records, see
the July issue of Governing magazine.
25 www.govtech.com
P
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C
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E
S
Y

O
F

T
H
E

W
H
I
T
E

H
O
U
S
E
/
P
E
T
E

S
O
U
Z
A
P
H
O
T
O

C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y

O
F

A
M
E
R
I
C
A
N

A
C
A
D
E
M
Y

O
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F
A
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P
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S
I
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I
A
N
S
The year the
federal govern-
ment is pushing
for Americans to
have electronic
health records.
2014
Under President Barack Obama’s health-care law,
32 million additional Americans are slated to receive
insurance coverage.
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A
s state Web portals evolve, they
typically feature new e-government
services, more intuitive navigation and links
to agency social networking pages.
While the May launch of Texas.gov, the
state’s redesigned Web portal, certainly
includes those features, it also introduced
new services for state and local agencies. Chief
among those is a free content management
system (CMS) delivered through sofware
as a service (SaaS). Te site also introduced a
crowdsourcing platform enabling citizens to
share ideas about the direction of government.
Te new portal is funded by transac-
tion fees on various electronic services, so
it requires no money from the state. It was
created by Kansas-based NIC, which won
a seven-year contract to operate the Texas
state government portal in 2009. Te Texas
Department of Information Resources
(DIR) said TexasOnline.com, the state’s
previous portal, had been an efective tool
for the past decade, and it views the new
Texas.gov as a signifcant improvement.
Conduit for SaaS
Te portal lets the DIR ofer free Web
hosting services to Texas local governments.
Under this arrangement, agencies manage
the content on their portals through the same
CMS that the DIR uses to support Texas.gov.
Te local agencies’ portal data is stored on the
DIR’s servers, which are maintained by the
department’s IT workers. Te service is free
for up to 100 GB of content. If a local gov-
ernment’s site exceeds that storage amount,
it pays an incremental cost. Te service could
be a welcome opportunity for local govern-
ments that are short on funds and IT staf,
said state CIO Karen Robinson, who serves
as executive director of the DIR.
“Tis should be especially useful to smaller
agencies that don’t have the resources to
provide up-to-date websites,” Robinson said.
State legislation allowed the DIR to
provide free CMS functionality to local agen-
cies. Te DIR can aford to ofer the service
without charging by treating it as a shared
service, as it’s developed once and then distrib-
uted to various entities.
A Portal for Free
Te costs of managing Texas.gov and
developing new features are covered by
transaction fees attached to electronic
services provided by the portal. Te arrange-
ment is similar to the self-funding model
used for TexasOnline — which contributed
nearly $70 million to the state’s general fund
over the past decade — although revenue
calculation is simpler under the new portal
contract, according to Douglas Holt, deputy
executive director of the DIR.
NIC had operated TexasOnline since
May 2009, afer acquiring management of
the site from original contractor Bearing-
Point, which fled for bankruptcy protection
last February.
Texas of cials announced a new portal
contract with NIC in August 2009, which
gives the state about half the revenue gener-
ated by the portal afer expenses. Te new
contract is expected to produce more than
$183 million for the state’s general fund over
its seven-year term. At the time, state of cials
BY ANDY OPSAHL
FEATURES EDI TOR
A Cut Above
Texas.gov goes beyond the typical enhancements of state portals
to offer agencies back-end services.
26
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SYNOPSIS
Texas launches new
portal with features
that go beyond the
usual bells and
whistles.
AGENCY
Texas Department
of Information
Resources.
CONTACT
Douglas Holt, deputy
executive director,
Texas Department of
Information Resources,
512/936-9261.
STATE LOCAL FEDERAL
e-government
E L
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“This was the most professional conference I have attended and I attend these types of
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all involved and the running of the conference was flawless. Outstanding!”
Senior Representative US Marine Corps, 2009 International Port Security Attendee
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REGISTER ONLINE AT
www.intlportsecurity.com
Alternatively contact Teri Arri on +44 (0) 207 827 6162 or email tarri@smi-online.co.uk
GROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE
SMi’s Third Annual Conference on…
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29th & 30th September 2010, Hilton Barcelona, Spain
Don’t miss case studies from international ports including:
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• David Snelson, Chief Harbour Master, Port of London, UK
• Joseph Lawless, Director of Maritime and Bridge Security, Massport, Port of Boston, USA
• Reinout Gunst, Security Coordinator, Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands
• Bill Crews, Port Security and Emergency Operations Manager, Port Authority of Houston,
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Plus key speakers include:
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• Jay Grant, Director, Airport and Seaport Police, USA
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• Captain John Kenyon, Commanding Officer, International Port Security Program, US
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Conference Highlights:
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ake the opportunity to attend high level briefings and get involved in multiple
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DISCUSS THE GLOBAL PORT SECURITY CHALLENGE
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Sponsored by
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also said the new contract would put greater
focus on transformational Web initiatives.
Sourcing the Crowd
As a way of empowering citizens to
engage the state with their ideas, Texas.gov
features a collaboration tool from third-
party vendor Get Satisfaction, which ofers
citizens a platform for sharing their ideas
with other citizens.
“It engages Texans more in their gov-
ernment process. It’s a trend that’s hap-
pening throughout the country,” said Janet
Gilmore, assistant director of e-government
services for the DIR. “We wanted to use that
and see if we could make government more
transparent and accessible.”
Links to agency activity on social net-
works were placed prominently on Texas.gov
as well. Between crowdsourcing and social
networking activity, the state hopes to
foster new interest among citizens in col-
laborating on government matters through
Web 2.0 devices.
New Navigation
Making a Web portal easier to navigate is
an ongoing concern for most organizations.
One weakness of TexasOn-
line was that information was
placed in an unintuitive way,
said Gilmore. She promised
that Texas.gov wouldn’t have
that problem.
“It’s been designed pur-
posely to have a search bar
very prominently featured,”
Gilmore said. “It’s a new search
tool based on a Google search.
It can fnd anything within the
portal purview very easily, based on your
keyword search.”
Te DIR’s eforts to make navigation
easier go beyond improved search capa-
bilities. Te site’s creative team assembled
groupings of goals that citizens typically
visit a portal to fulfll. Each of those group-
ings appears under one of four words —
“Do,” Discover,” “Connect” and “Ask.”
With Texas.gov ofering so many services
and points of data, the DIR expects these
classifcations to be a less overwhelming
way for users to explore those features.
Central App Repository
A goal to which governments have long
aspired is creating a central location for listing
and hosting the various applications in agen-
cies. Te problem is that the follow-through
of inventorying what’s available is dif cult
to orchestrate, according to Gilmore. By
2011, the DIR hopes to overcome that chal-
lenge and host such a central repository on
Texas.gov. For example, many of the state’s
145 agencies have their own applications for
enabling citizens to register for services. For
the central repository, the DIR will choose
one and make it available via Texas.gov to
agencies without a registration application.
“We’re going to put one out there that’s
going to be common in nature instead of
everybody having to develop and maintain
one with diferent hardware specs,” Holt said.
Gilmore said the DIR was still devising
a project management strategy that might
make cataloging all of the state’s applica-
tions manageable.
STATE LOCAL FEDERAL E L
28
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FAST FACTS ABOUT
TEXAS.GOV:
• uses a self-funded model
• incorporates collaboration and social
networking tools
• has a prominent search bar
• offers an easy classiﬁcation system
“
It’s a new search tool based on a Google
search. It can find anything within the portal purview
very easily.
”
— Janet Gilmore, assistant director of e-government services, Texas Department of
Information Resources
P
H
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O

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S
chool systems and police
departments are community
partners, and ensuring student,
faculty and of cer safety is a high
priority for both entities. In Penn-
sylvania, police departments are
being both innovative and proac-
tive by using wireless technology
to handle school safety. If there’s
an emergency, local police depart-
ments can increase situational awareness by
directly linking to Pennsylvania schools’ live
video camera feeds.
About 128 cameras keep watch over the
Franklin Regional School District’s fve
schools — one high school, one middle
school and three elementary schools. And
the Murrysville Police Department will
upgrade of cers’ in-car laptops with sof-
ware that will connect to each of the district’s
live video feeds. Linking to these feeds could
provide vital information for police of cers
in the event of an emergency.
“As with Columbine [High School] and
things that have happened since then with
universities and shootings,” said Murrys-
ville Police Chief Tom Seefeld of the impetus
created by the grisly 1999 high school mass
shooting and other high-profle student
shootings, “we’re trying to approach this in
a manner that will provide the best safety for
of cers and frefghters, as well as students
and faculty, if we should in fact have critical
incidents at the school.”
Te police department received a
$100,000 grant from the Community Ori-
ented Policing Services technology program,
of which about $45,000 will fund the pur-
chase of OnSite Information Systems Inc.’s
Responder Knowledge sofware.
Afer receiving the grant, the police
department approached the Franklin
Regional School District. “Tey thought it
would be a good mix and a good partnership
as far as implementing such a program,” said
Frank Muto, the school district’s technology
services supervisor. “Te sofware and its
capabilities lend themselves to including the
school district in terms of safety.”
Te City Council approved the contract
with OnSite, a Murrysville-based company,
ELAINE PITTMAN
STAFF WRI TER
public safety
30
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The Looking Glass
Pennsylvania police departments connect wirelessly to school district camera feeds to aid
incident response.
SYNOPSIS
Pennsylvania school
districts give police
direct access to their
video camera feeds
to improve situational
awareness.
AGENCIES:
Murrysville Police
Department, Franklin
Regional School
District and Council
Rock School District.
TECHNOLOGIES:
Responder Knowl-
edge software from
OnSite Information
Systems Inc., and
Video Surveillance
and Physical Access
Control from Cisco.
CONTACT: Tom
Seefeld, police chief,
Murrysville Police
Department,
724/327-2111.
STATE LOCAL FEDERAL
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Bringing the
News to You.
If it’s state and local, we’ve got it covered.
Subscribe to our complimentary email
newsletters that offer intensiﬁed coverage on
best practices and innovative solutions on the
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in January, and the system is expected to go
live by January 2011.
Electronic Eyes
When the sofware is installed, police
of cers can log on through their laptops,
most likely via a virtual private network
(VPN), to access the sofware hosted from
the school district’s server. Te sofware
will provide a live feed from the schools’
cameras, and also can load other informa-
tion, like electronic foor plans to help police
of cers identify points of interest, such as
stairwells and bathrooms.
Seefeld anticipates that the of cer or fre-
fghter in charge of an incident will use the
video and foor plans to direct his or her
subordinates about how to best approach
a situation. “If we know of an area where
something is occurring, we can punch that
information in and bring that area up on the
screen with the closest camera to that area,”
he said. “So we can relay to the responding
of cers or frefghters what we’re seeing,
which will greatly help them, I believe.”
Murrysville’s three fre departments —
the municipality is divided into three fre
districts — will each have a laptop installed
with the sofware, and the municipality’s
emergency management center will have
access through one laptop. Currently school
of cials can view the camera feeds while
in the district’s buildings, but they will
be granted the same capability externally
thanks to the sofware, Muto said. “It’s just
going to be an enhancement to what we
already have.”
Te local schools are just the starting
point for using the sofware. Seefeld said he
hopes other organizations and businesses
— like banks, hotels and universities — will
take notice of the school district’s imple-
mentation and utilize the technology in
their buildings. Doing so would provide law
enforcement with the best information when
responding to incidents.
“I think it’s getting our emergency services
prepared to confront issues and matters, and
provide the best safety as possible for frst
responders,” Seefeld said.
Strict policies, Seefeld said, will ensure
that the sofware is only used for its intended
purpose: emergency response. Also, when
of cers log on to the district’s server, they will
only have access to the camera system, which
will eliminate any chance of them accessing
student records or personnel information.
Te district also will establish policies regard-
ing who will have access to the server and
when it can occur, Muto said, adding that all
access will be tracked and monitored.
“We anticipate during emergency situa-
tions would be the only time that it would be
activated,” he said.
Forging the Path
Te Franklin Regional School District
isn’t the only education system in Pennsyl-
vania working with the local police in such a
manner. When Council Rock School District
IT Director Matthew Frederickson attended
a community meeting about two years ago,
some police of cers were discussing an inci-
dent that occurred at one of the high schools.
Frederickson’s response was, “We should
really give you access to our security system
cameras.” And a new partnership was born.
About three years ago, the school district,
located in Bucks County, installed a security
system that included 48 video cameras
in one of its high schools. Frederickson
was hired by the district afer the security
system was installed, but he suggested that
the network infrastructure be restructured
using an IP-based system. He said the
school district utilized Cisco Systems infra-
structure, so the IT department added the
company’s Video Surveillance and Physical
Access Control systems to integrate with
the network. “Te total cost of ownership
would be less expensive than a stand-alone
system and could be supported by network
staf,” Frederickson explained.
Tanks to the new system, school of -
cials access the live video feeds wirelessly
through a Web browser — and they wanted
to open that access to police of cers in case
of emergency. “Te superintendent decided
what we really needed was a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) with the police
department that basically says, ‘You won’t
use the access that we’ve given to you, unless
we request it,’” Frederickson said.
Te MOU was made to quell the fears
of parents who, during a board meeting,
expressed concern that police of cers would
use the video feeds to watch their children
if they suspected them of wrongdoing.
Frederickson said the system hasn’t been
used by the police as of yet, and there also
haven’t been any further complaints from
parents or other community members.
Te police access is mostly for afer-hours
use, when the building is empty and the
school’s resource of cers are of duty. Tere
also are security measures in place to keep
the system secured — it requires a user ID
and password to log on, and users must go
through a VPN frewall to connect outside
of the school district. It tracks who accesses
the network, which provides Frederickson
with a view of how it’s used.
“Te concern is if something happens in
the schools afer hours and the police have
to go onsite, and there’s a possibility that
they have to go in the building,” he said.
“It would be nice for them to be able to see
what’s going on.”
Te recordings also can be benefcial if
there’s an incident at the high school because
of cials can review what the cameras caught.
In one instance, Frederickson said, record-
ings were burned to a CD to show the exact
events that transpired in a criminal case the
police were pursuing.
32
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public safety
STATE LOCAL FEDERAL
$
45,000
The cost to the Murrysville Police
Department to implement Responder
Knowledge software.
In Pennsylvania, the
Murrysville Police
Department plans to
upgrade officers’ in-car
laptops with software
that will connect to
live video feeds in local
schools.
GT07_30.indd 32 6/8/10 8:53 AM
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Join the discussion at govtech.com/blogs!
Lohrman on
Infrastructure:
Dan Lohrmann
Chief Technology Ofﬁcer
Michigan
blogs on the virtual tsunami
of IT challenges and options
government faces today.
Securing
GovSpace:
Mark Weatherford
Director and Chief Information
Security Ofﬁcer
California Ofﬁce of Information
Security
blogs on the latest rumors
and news in the government
cybersecurity arena.
Disaster Zone:
Eric Holdeman
Fmr. Director
Ofﬁce of Emergency Management
King County, Washington
on the ongoing palette of new laws,
plans, procedures and all aspects
of emergency management and
homeland security.
Notes from a
City CIO:
Bill Schrier
Chief Technology Ofﬁcer
City of Seattle
blogs on making technology
work for city government.
Who’s Talking?
Calling all readers to join the discussion as experts dispatch witty
observations and tackle the tough issues. Converse with like-minded views,
or agree to disagree. We look forward to the debate!
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I
n the weeks following innovation con-
tests, sofware developers attain almost
celebrity status — at least on a local level. For
that brief time, the winners of apps competi-
tions step away from their computer screens
to schmooze with mayors and pose for pic-
tures. Tey feld questions about how their
winning Web-based apps will change the
way citizens use government data.
But this isn’t a story about how to
make an award-winning application.
Tis is about the afermath of inno-
vation contests. In other words, what
happens to these winning apps when
the press stops calling and the cameras
stop fashing?
“Just because it wins doesn’t mean the
jurisdiction actually gets to use it,” said
Chris Vein, CIO of San Francisco, which
held an innovation contest last fall. “Te issue
becomes whether the city can actually procure it.
We’re trying to fgure out ways to address that.”
For the past two years, innovation contests
have swept the country in a contagious craze,
from Washington, D.C., to New York City,
from San Francisco to Portland. Even frst
lady Michelle Obama got in on the action in
March when she launched Apps for Healthy
Kids as part of her campaign aimed to end
childhood obesity within a generation.
In the age of Government 2.0, these catchy
contests thrive due to a simple concept: To
improve transparency, governments release
hundreds of public-sector data sets, which
developers then use to create Web-based
applications. Te best apps win big prizes.
Te public reaps the rewards of new apps
that help them get around New York’s
subway system or navigate historical sites in
the nation’s capital.
On the surface, it seems like a win-win
situation for all. But local buzz only lasts
for so long, especially when a winning app
doesn’t always lead to a long-term govern-
ment contract.
“Conceptually it makes a lot of sense, but
in practice, I’d like to see 10 years from now
which ones are actually still out there,” said
Jay Nath, manager of innovation for San
Francisco. “Not many I bet.”
Sustainability Matters
To keep the momentum going, various
cities have made innovation contests an
annual event, but in the long run, what do
governments get out of them?
Indeed, the contests let city of cials
advertise transparency eforts and collabo-
rate with citizens to address local issues.
But because applications submitted in the
competitions don’t go through normal pro-
curement channels, Nath said, cities cannot
use them as “of cial” apps. Tat means the
shelf life of the winning app is lef in the
hands of the developers.
Just ask Brian Sobel, one of the three devel-
opers of the website iLive.at, where users can
learn about a neighborhood in Washing-
ton, D.C., by plugging in an address. Afer
winning the top individual prize for the dis-
trict’s frst Apps for Democracy contest, he
remembers meeting the mayor and attending
press conferences. But eventually the hoopla
died down. And without any incentives to
keep the data up-to-date, he said, the free site
has “gone kind of stale.”
“We produced something, and we were part
of this whole to-do,” he said. “Tat was great.
But there was no next step, so we all went back
to our gainfully employed ventures. Tey could
have asked us to buy a next phase of the project,
but they didn’t because they didn’t have the
infrastructure set up for that.”
But for city of cials,
the instant boost seems to
outweigh the underlying
barriers. Consider Apps
for Democracy, which
yielded 47 iPhone, Face-
book and Web apps in
30 days — a $2.3 million
value that only cost the
city $50,000. It’s hard
to dismiss an estimated
4,000 percent return on investment in
one month’s time. Te contest’s success,
powered by iStrategyLabs, spurred Apps
BY RUSSELL NICHOLS
STAFF WRI TER
web 2.0
Life After Apps
Cities confront the sustainability of applications created through ‘apps’ contests.
SYNOPSIS
San Francisco and
other cities look
for ways to engage
software developers
and spark long-
term innovation.
JURISDICTIONS
Washington, D.C.,
San Francisco.
34
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The number of
days developers
were given to
build applications
from public-
sector data sets
in the ﬁrst Apps
for Democracy
competition.
30
STATE LOCAL FEDERAL
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35
and he receives at least 10 e-mails a day from
grateful residents.
“Someone who just moved was having
a depressing evening and found that their
favorite band was playing on a roofop
nearby,” he said. “One person who wrote to
us takes a group of disabled people out for
outings and uses NYC Way to fnd directions.
Tese are real people who are telling us how
NYC Way has changed their lives.”
Fueled by the success, the three develop-
ers of NYC Way all quit Wall Street jobs to
form My City Way and create city apps full
time. Tey’ve already launched projects in
Washington, D.C., San Francisco, Las Vegas
and Los Angeles.
As Mehta’s story illustrates, developers
can use these innovation contests as a launch-
ing pad, even if the cities can’t use the
winning apps of cially. Mehta said he
still hopes to connect with the city’s
tourism department to make NYC
Way an official tourism resource, but he
doesn’t have to bank on that.
Perhaps no winning app received
more exposure than D.C. Historic
Tours. Developed by Boalt Interactive, it
allows users to create custom tours and
won an Apps for Democracy award.
In 2009, the D.C. Historic Tours site caught the
eyes of federal of cials because a demonstration
route on the site happened to match up with
President Barack Obama’s inaugural route.
“When the White House saw this really
cool map that had all these directions, they
linked to us,” said Adam Boalt, the com-
pany’s founder. “Afer that, it was a huge
explosion.”
Te site traf c has been steady ever
since, he said, and sometimes the city
reaches out to him for projects. Boalt
even collaborated with fellow winner
Sobel to create Are You Safe, an iPhone
app that determines your safety level in a
given area in Washington, D.C., using local
crime data. Although D.C. Historic Tours
isn’t an of cial city app, Boalt maintains
that he didn’t build the free site for the prize
money or the government.
“It was a practical problem I was having,”
he said. “I wanted to go around D.C., but I
didn’t want to ride a Segway or a double-
decker bus to do it. But there was nothing
available to the general public. I wasn’t
doing it for the city; I thought it would help
people in my situation.”
for Democracy “Community Edition”
and spinofs in other cities.
But in San Francisco, Nath said, city of -
cials are exploring alternative approaches to
foster an “ongoing relationship” between the
city and developers. On a much smaller scale
than Apps for Democracy, San Francisco
held its DataSF Contest last fall, a one-day
event where the winning app, Tree Data,
was an open source Web database for people
to track data on trees and plants. It was not
deployed publicly.
In future contests, the city hopes to
produce more sustainable prizes. “If we’re
going to have an app contest, the winning
application may not just get a prize,” Nath
said. “We’re thinking about it as a way to fnd
the best vendor and provide them with a con-
tract, a way to work with the city for
a year.”
Even Washington, D.C., which
touched of the apps contest craze
in 2008, is rethinking its approach.
Te District will discontinue its
annual Apps for Democracy com-
petition, said CTO Bryan Sivak,
citing concerns over sustainabil-
ity and value of apps produced
through the contest. Instead, the
District is looking for new ways to engage
sofware entrepreneurs and focus their talent
on solving core government problems.
“If you look at the applications developed
in both of the contests we ran, and actually
in many of the contests being run in other
states and localities, you get a lot of applica-
tions that are designed for devices like smart-
phones, that aren’t necessarily used by the
large populations that might need to interact
with these services on a regular basis,” said
Sivak, in an interview earlier this year.
Publicity Power
In New York, the big bucks were already
rolling in for Puneet Mehta, who was a senior
vice president of technology with a Wall
Street company. But his life changed afer he
and two other key developers created NYC
Way, a one-stop iPhone app, where users
can make restaurant reservations, buy movie
tickets, book tours and so forth.
Te app won the popular choice award for
the NYC BigApps competition, which was
launched last June by the city’s Economic
Development Corp. Since then, Mehta said,
the app has been downloaded 200,000 times
APPLICATION: D.C. Historic Tours
TYPE: Web
This Google Maps
mash-up combines a
custom walking tour
with Flickr photo feeds
and Wikipedia entries. Users can create and
save a custom map, and reference it later
when they’re ready to tour the city.
COMPETITION: Apps for Democracy
DEVELOPER: Boalt Interactive
COST: Free
PAGE VIEWS: 50,000
APPLICATION: iLive.at
TYPE: Web
A website that provides
information about speciﬁc
locations in the Washington,
D.C., area, such as the
nearest shopping center, post
ofﬁce, recent crime activity and demographics.
COMPETITION: Apps for Democracy
DEVELOPERS: Travis Hurant, Tim Koelkebeck
and Brian Sobel
COST: Free
PAGE VIEWS: 36,000
APPLICATION: WayFinder NYC
TYPE: Mobile
An app powered by Google’s Android operating
system that layers map information with
GPS data to help people find the best
directions to New York City subway and
New Jersey Port Authority
(PATH) stations by holding up their
phones in the camera view.
COMPETITION: NYC BigApps
DEVELOPERS: Victor Sima
and Steven Lao
COST: Free
DOWNLOADS: 8,000
APPLICATION: NYC Way
TYPE: Mobile
This iPhone app bundles more than 30
useful New York City resources into one,
allowing users to obtain and send infor-
mation based on their current location.
COMPETITION: NYC BigApps
DEVELOPER: Puneet Mehta,
Archana Patchirajan, Sonpreet Bhatia
COST: Free
DOWNLOADS: 200,000
APPLICATION: Tree Data
TYPE: Web
With this Web app for munic-
ipal tree tracking, citizens can
explore and discover various
plant species and individual
trees maintained by the city, ﬂag suffering trees,
request trees for certain areas and see what a
speciﬁc species will look like in the future.
COMPETITION: California Data Camp & DataSF
App Contest
DEVELOPER: Scot Hacker
COST: Free
PAGE VIEWS: N/A
App Stats
MILLION
The value of the
47 iPhone,
Facebook and
Web applications
developed from
the ﬁrst Apps
for Democracy
competition.
2.3
$
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W
hen worries about H1N1 fu spread
across the U.S. in 2009, New York
City’s public school system was of particu-
lar concern. Tousands of students were
af icted with suspected H1N1 cases, which
caused alarm among health of cials who
thought the virus could spread and set of a
citywide epidemic.
So in October that year, the New
York City Health and Education
departments joined forces, announc-
ing the launch of a weeklong vaccina-
tion program at city schools, an efort
followed by a broader, school-based
H1N1 vaccination program.
Because the emergency vaccination
program was mandated, local health
personnel were required to volun-
teer extra hours to meet the demands
— and the Education Department
expanded its work force management
sofware to correctly handle timekeep-
ing for these employees.
Meeting Demand
Te Education Department set up
weekend vaccination clinics so the
New York City Health and Mental
Hygiene Department could adminis-
ter vaccines to the city’s 1.1 million students
within a multiweek window in November
and December 2009.
“Te New York City Health Department
needed to dispense this vaccine through-
out the city and into the school population,
which is more than 1,500 sites,” said Eliza-
beth Knipfng, deputy executive director
of the Education Department’s Division of
Financial Systems and Business Operations.
To handle the workload, the Educa-
tion Department modifed its existing work
force management sofware, supplied by
New Jersey-based CyberShif Inc. But the
vaccine project in 2009 required Knipfng
and her colleagues to expand the core
business engine to handle timekeeping for
more employees and an increased workload.
Because the department had coopera-
tion from top city of cials, including Mayor
Michael Bloomberg and Health Commis-
sioner Dr. Tomas Farley, the adjustment
wasn’t as dif cult as it could have been.
“Tere were no govern-
ment hurdles. It came to
us through our HR depart-
ment, and we were told
what the business rules
were,” Knipfng said. “We
had to get it implemented, and there was a
start and end period.”
But even with the government on board,
the Education Department still had to work
quickly to get everything done on time.
“We turned it around within about
three weeks. Tere was some rules-engine
programming that had to be done because
we had to create the code that payroll would
accept,” Knipfng said. “Tey gave a set of
rules, and the rules were whoever volun-
teered got a minimum of four hours of pay.
If they worked more, naturally they got more
according to overtime rules.”
For every civil servant
who stepped up to work on
the vaccination efort, the
department had to make
system adjustments to inte-
grate the CyberShif time-
keeping system with the payroll system, which
is separate. Planning for the vaccine program
began in October, when the team hammered
out business requirements, design, program-
ming and quality assurance testing.
“In any kind of development efort, you
start with a business requirement. You
HILTON COLLINS
STAFF WRI TER
health
36
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Working Overtime
The New York City Department of Education’s time and attendance system made tracking
employee work time easier during the H1N1 scare.
SYNOPSIS
The New York City
Department of
Education expands
its time and
attendance system
to cope with staff
overtime during
H1N1 scare.
TECHNOLOGY
CyberShift work
force management
3G solution.
CONTACT
Elizabeth Knipfing,
deputy executive
director, Division of
Financial Systems
and Business
Operations,
718/935-5969,
BKnipfi@schools
.nyc.gov.
The number of employees using
the time and attendance system as
of spring 2010.
13,000
STATE LOCAL FEDERAL
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.
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O
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S
.
S
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A
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W
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I
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.
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O
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37 www.govtech.com
keep it just to the administrative staf, which
is about 15,000. Right now we have about
13,000 users on the system.”
Simple and Easy
Te time and attendance system has an
interactive voice response (IVR) compo-
nent, so someone can make a phone call and
the system populates a feld on an electronic
timesheet with the accompanying time. Badge
readers also are connected to the system.
“It empowers the employee to manage his
or her own time and attendance,” Knipfng
said. Employees also can manually fll out
timesheets themselves.
Te time and attendance system is Web-
based and maintains time records. It records
daily attendance and applies department time-
keeping rules and regulations, tracks absences,
and applies sick and vacation accruals. Employ-
ees can also obtain leave balances online and
request personal time electronically.
Employees can use the system to manage
all of this from one central screen that can
render multiple views. And on the back end,
when the department wants to make a change
to the hosted system, CyberShif employees
make the adjustments.
Te nature of government can make time-
keeping more challenging than it may be in
private-sector environments, Knipfng said.
“We have many diferent unions, and the
way their time is kept, they earn time — it’s
called earning accruals, and their accrual
earnings vary across civil service titles and
union contracts,” she said.
Te Department of Education’s timekeep-
ing upgrade made the process a bit easier to
navigate than it would be otherwise.
“People assume that time and attendance
are easy things to do in both the private and
public sector,” Knipfng said. “But it’s not
easy. It’s very complicated, and you don’t
know it unless you’re involved in it.”
Knipfng said the work force management
technology has been cost-efective.
“Since we went live in 2002, we’re approach-
ing about $10 million in expenditures for
the time and attendance system — the entire
system,” Knipfng said. “Tat includes main-
tenance, programmers, project manager —
everything. I am very proud that we’ve been
able to do it with that amount of money.”
By comparison, New York City’s govern-
ment, as a whole, has a diferent time and
attendance system that the city has spent
more than $400 million on, she said.
Te Education Department uses its time
and attendance system to handle informa-
tion for thousands of employees, although the
vaccine program ended months ago.
“We originally thought we were going to
go with the whole 150,000 people who work
here,” Knipfng said. “And then we decided to
go from the business requirement to the
traditional design, to the code part and to
the quality assurance,” said Art Krozser, vice
president of enterprise solutions and global
support for CyberShif. “And since the
New York City Department of Education
is serviced through a sofware-as-a-service
business model, we then have to promote
it through the traditional SAS 70 modes of
getting it validated in a test environment,
and then in a production environment.”
Technology Focus
Te CyberShif work force management
solution is compliant with the American
Institute of Certifed Public Accountants’
Statement on Auditing Standards (SAS), a.k.a.
SAS 70. Te audit certifes that a product is
deemed acceptable to handle many account-
ing and fnancial procedures.
The number of children in the New
York City public school system.
1.1 million
The New York City
Health Department
augmented its back-
end systems to handle
time and payroll
adjustments for its
staff during the 2009
H1N1 flu clinic.
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W
ith the hurting economy and an
infux of new Medicaid recipients
on the horizon, state governments can’t
aford to squander public dollars. But across
the country, budget constraints have ham-
pered aggressive eforts to improve payment
accuracy, leaving more room for costly mis-
takes and abuse in Medicaid programs.
On the front lines of eforts to fght
fraud and abuse stands the Alabama
Medicaid Agency, which just awarded
a two-year contract to Ingenix, a sub-
sidiary of UnitedHealth Group, to
review claims and identify funds owed
to the state.
But here’s the twist: Alabama had no
up-front costs. As part of the contract,
Eden Prairie, Minn.-based Ingenix
will conduct post-payment reviews of
Medicaid claims fled for the past two
years by all Alabama providers: hospi-
tals, physicians, dentists, pharmacies,
durable medical equipment compa-
nies and home health-care providers.
Instead of the state paying a standard fat fee,
Ingenix will receive a percentage of any incor-
rect payments identifed and recovered.
“Alabama is a poor state, and this con-
tract was designed to go beyond our current
eforts to achieve any possible savings,” said
Robin Rawls, director of communications for
the Alabama Medicaid Agency. “Te contin-
gency nature of the contract is designed to
ensure that monies are only paid for legiti-
mate, verifed savings. Providers also have
the opportunity to appeal any fndings.”
Te eforts in Alabama represent part of
a broader push to crack down on Medicaid
abuse. Established by the Defcit Reduction
Act of 2005, the Medicaid Integrity Program
(MIP) is the frst national strategy in
Medicaid’s 45-year history that promotes
fscal integrity, and detects and prevents pro-
vider fraud, waste and abuse. (Te Alabama
contract is separate from MIP.)
Trough innovative tactics to track tax-
payer dollars, of cials said, the Alabama
Medicaid Agency has made payment accu-
racy a priority. As a player in health IT devel-
opment and quality improvement initiatives,
the agency assists nearly 1 million eligible
recipients annually and seeks to improve
patient health outcomes, manage costs and
streamline Medicaid.
Targeting Fraud, Waste and Abuse
In fscal 2009, Alabama Medicaid recov-
ered about $1.3 million and avoided nearly
$4 million in costs afer reviewing 77 medical
providers and 413 pharmacies. More than
100 benefciaries were suspended from
Medicaid for program abuse or misuse, and
nearly 700 were restricted to one doctor and
one pharmacy to prevent potential abuse.
Alabama’s quality-control rate, which mea-
sures the accuracy of the Medicaid agency’s
eligibility determination process, consistently
outperforms the national average error rate
of 3 percent, the state claims. Te agency’s
most recent error rate was only 0.5 percent
for the year, Alabama of cials said.
Te new contract bolsters the Alabama
program that has been “nationally recognized
for very low rates of fraud and abuse,” Rawls
said. Under terms of the agreement, Ingenix
will provide a full range of tools and services,
including data mining, analytics and detection
algorithms. Te company also will provide the
agency with experts in Medicaid policies and
procedures, claims processing, reimbursement
policy analysis and provider relations.
“States are really under the gun fnancially,”
said Steve Puleo, director of communications
for Ingenix payer and government solutions.
“Medicaid programs are going to expand, so
it’s important that every public dollar is spent
to go to benefciaries on the plans.”
Te deal, Puleo said, marks the company’s
frst contingent contract with a state. Cur-
rently Ingenix has six contracts with state
Medicaid programs for fraud, waste and abuse
identifcation services or related support, and
subcontracts, through partners, with 13 states.
In addition, Ingenix has Medicaid/Health and
Human Services data warehouse and analytics
contracts with several large states, including
Michigan, Illinois, New Jersey and California.
Puleo said Alabama’s contingency approach
may appeal to states looking to strengthen
program integrity and prevent fraud and abuse
without forking over big dollars at the beginning.
“Te goal of this agency is to make sure every
public dollar is properly spent to improve
the health of the people of Alabama, and to
achieve that we need to continuously seek
ways to strengthen our program integrity
and fraud-and-abuse prevention eforts,”
said Alabama Medicaid Commissioner
Carol Steckel, who also serves as chairperson
of the National Association of State Medicaid
Directors, in a release. “A contingency-based
contract ensures that Alabama taxpayers are
only paying for results.”
BY RUSSELL NICHOLS
STAFF WRI TER
health
Pay It Forward
Alabama strengthens Medicaid payment accuracy
with innovative contingency contract.
SYNOPSIS
Alabama awards a
performance-based
contract to review
its Medicaid claims
and help recover
funds owed.
AGENCY
Alabama Medicaid
Agency.
CONTACT
Robin Rawls, director
of communications,
Alabama Medicaid
Agency,
334/353-9363.
38
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STATE LOCAL FEDERAL
GT07_38.indd 38 6/7/10 3:46 PM
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The newest Converge
Special Report on Classroom
Technologies features:
Complete overview of technological tools
found in classrooms and campuses
Implementation best practices to ensure
money spent is put to good use
“Day in the Life” portraits, illustrating how
students and teachers are utilizing technology
How the evolution of teaching through
technological tools can help prepare students
for advanced education, the workforce
and the world
Converge Special Report:
Classroom Technologies
Download the report.
www.convergemag.com/reports
Produced by:
Underwritten by:
T
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product news
I
f you’re looking for a simple printer
without all the bells and whistles, then
the Epson B-500DN color ink jet printer
might be just what you need. Although the
printer is lightweight, the design is chunky
and parts like the paper tray are some-
times too easily detached. Tis sentiment
was echoed by some of my colleagues, who
also disliked the printer’s noisiness and wet
copies — something I didn’t notice until
it was mentioned. If you are like me and
don’t immediately retrieve printed copies,
then this won’t bother you.
Installation was quick and easy, but spot-
ting and removing paper jams were more
challenging — a task for someone with
small hands. Luckily the printer rarely jams.
Cartridges, which cost between $39.99 and
$69.99 each, print about 8,000 pages (black)
and 7,000 pages (color) before replacement,
according to Epson. Te printer also is easy
to load and hibernates to save energy, but
has a minimal warm-up time.
Overall, the Epson B-500DN performed
reliably and produced good quality color
documents, unlike our temperamental
in-house laser printer. Te inkjet printer
performed up to par, although fne-tuning
its design and functionality would make
it a better machine. It worked well for my
15-person department, and it might for
yours too for about $550 … which may be a
tad overpriced.
Features
Prints 37 pages per minute (ppm)
in black and color; 33 ppm in black;
and 32 ppm in color.
LCD display; front and rear paper trays;
network connectivity.
Mac and Windows compatibility.
BY KAREN STEWARTSON MANAGI NG EDI TOR
Rating
Price $550
An LCD screen shows levels in
the printer’s four ink cartridges.
Replacement cartridges cost
between $39.99 and $69.99 apiece.
46
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www.govtech.com
{TWO CENTS: Our take on the latest technology}
Simple Solution
Meeting your printing demands one page at a time.
GT07_46.indd 46 6/8/10 9:29 AM
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IN SYNC
The Samsung NC190 PC-over-IP (PCoIP) all-in-one monitor lets
users connect to centralized servers without the need for worksta-
tions on their desks. The fanless screens contain no operating
system, drivers or hard drives and the NC190 integrates into existing
systems that use PCoIP-enabled rack workstations, towers or blade
PCs. The NC190 has a Tera1100 PCoIP processor, 64 MB XDR
memory, 1280x1024 resolution and four USB 1.1 ports. The NC190
also has VGA in connectivity (for a PC monitor), DVI out connectivity
(for dual video) and 10/100/1000 RJ45 Ethernet connectivity.
www.samsung.com
STROBE SCAN
The Visioneer Strobe 400 duplex color scanner
measures 11.6x2.5x2 inches and weighs 22 ounces.
When used in duplex mode, the device scans both
sides of a page in six seconds. The Strobe 400 offers
Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface and can produce
documents at resolutions up to 600 DPI. The device
may be powered through a computer’s USB port or
via an electrical outlet. The Auto Launch technology
allows the device to scan a document as soon as
it’s inserted into it. www.visioneer.com
TOUGH TADPOLE
General Dynamics’ rugged Tadpole Topaz notebook computer has an
Intel T9400 Core2 Duo Mobile Processor (6M L2 Cache, 2.53 GHz, 1066
MHz front-side bus) and up to 8 GB DDR3 SDRAM. It features a 15.1-
inch (1400x1050) daylight viewable display and optional touchscreen.
The laptop is tested to pass MIL-STD-810F environmental operating
speciﬁcations, and MIL-STD-461E for electromagnetic emissions and
susceptibility. The Tadpole Topaz includes an integrated, weather-
sealed keyboard and mouse. www.gdc4s.com
1
FOR MORE PRODUCT NEWS...
Log on today to explore Government Technology’s Product
Source www.productsource.govtech.com
SEND PRODUCT
REVIEW IDEAS
to chief copy editor Miriam Jones
mjones@govtech.com
47 www.govtech.com
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Reports from the IT horizon
MOBILE
ECLIPSES
WEB: By 2015,
mobile Internet usage will
surpass that of the desktop,
according The Mobile
Internet Report by
Morgan Stanley.
WATCH SPECTRUM at
www.govtech.com/spectrum
Do you struggle to remember multiple passwords?
Logaway.com, a secure password management site, lets
users store myriad e-mail addresses and passwords,
as well as instant messenger service credentials. Once
users add an e-mail account, that logon is stored on
their Logaway start page, so accessing that site is only a
click of an icon away. The service is free and adheres to
National Security Agency standards. SOURCE: LOGAWAY.COM
Password Genie
39%
think hacking
is cool
75%
think it’s wrong
70%
think it should be
a criminal offense
7%
did it for money
American Teens
on Hacking
One in six teens admitted to trying hacking because it’s fun and
they’re curious. The above information outlines the results of a
survey of 1,000 New York City teenagers’ impressions of hacking.
SOURCE: TUFIN TECHNOLOGIES
Don’t Worry, Be Happy
Is your Facebook status an indicator of how happy
you are? It can be. A new Gross National Happiness
application for Facebook analyzes users’ status updates for
words like “awesome” and “tragic” to determine how happy
users are. Fewer people were happy when natural disasters
occurred, while holidays boosted their morale.
SOURCE: MASHABLE.COM
Ann Marie Johnson is so excited that spring is finally here! Awesome
weather weʼre having!!!
21 minutes ago • Comment • Like
SOURCE: MASHABLE COM
Joseph Martinez wishes his laptop would cooperate on days like
these. The downfall of his English Comp final is going to be tragic...
48 minutes ago • Comment • Like
Trees are teaching researchers how to harness more energy from the
sun. Inspired by how trees move their leaves to capture sunlight, Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology engineering professor Jeffrey Grossman
used a computer program to create the optimum 3-D shape for collect-
ing light. The results were origami-like shapes that are twice as efﬁcient
as traditional ﬂat solar panels.
Origami Solar Panels
P
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